The jay is a colourful member of the crow family, with brilliant blue wing patches. It is famous for searching out acorns in autumnal woodlands and parks, often storing them for the winter ahead…

The Coppery click beetle is a large, coppery-purple beetle with straw-brown wing cases. It can be found on grassland and farmland, and its larvae are known to feed on roots and damage crops.

The Four-spotted chaser is easily recognised by the two dark spots on the leading edge of each wing - giving this species its name. It can be seen on heathlands and near ponds and lakes.

The Noble chafer is a rare and beautiful metallic-green beetle that can be found in traditional orchards. It is on the wing over summer, feeding on umbellifers. The larvae live in the decaying…

The stock dove looks very much like the woodpigeon, but without the white neck and wing patches. It can be spotted in woodlands and parks, and on farmland in winter, but rarely visits our gardens…

The Black-tailed skimmer is a narrow-bodied dragonfly that can be seen flying low over the bare gravel and mud around flooded gravel pits and reservoirs. It is on the wing from May to August.

The broad-bordered bee hawk-moth does, indeed, look like a bee! A scarce moth, mainly of Central and Southern England, it feeds on the wing and can be seen during spring and summer.

The grizzled skipper has a striking brown-and-white checked wing pattern. It is a fast flier, so is best observed in the morning as it basks in the sun to warm up. It favours chalk grassland and…